Garment-stretcher



(No Model.) 4 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. A. CLARKE.

GARMENT STRETGHER. No. 510,405. Patented Dec. 12, 1893.

(No Model.) A 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. A. CLARKE.

GARMENT STRETGHER. I No. 510,405. v Patented Dec. 12, 1893.

WITNESSES. fi Q W aaaaaaaaaaaaa c4 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT CLARKE, or WELLESLEY, MASSACHUSETTS.

GARMENT-STRETCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 510,405, dated December 12, 1893.

Application filed February 13, 1893- Serial No. 462,154- (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT CLARKE, of Wellesley, (Wellesley Hills P. O.,) in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Expansive Garment Frames or Stretchers, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention relates to an adjustable fram ework to be used for stretching, smoothing, and displaying garments, either damp or dry; and also as a frame for drying garments upon, either to give them shape or to prevent shrinking. A means for putting my invention in practice is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows the frame as it appears when contracted. Fig. 2 shows the same expanded or open.

The frame illustrated in the drawings may be made of light strips of metal, plated or coated to prevent corrosion and staining the garments; or, if desirable, the frame may be of wood, or other material.

I do not wish to confine myself to the exact construction shown in the drawings, as it may be varied somewhat, without changing its general character, so as to adapt it to different garments and different sizes.

The construction of my-device may be described as follows:

H is a handle to which is connected a long central operating strip A A B is a clasp, sliding freely on the piece A A, and having pivoted to it twostrips,Band B The upper ends of the said strips B and B are pivoted at b b to the strips E E and K K. The lower ends of the strips E E are pivoted at a to the strip A A. II are also pivoted to the strip A A at the point h. The strips H H are connected .to the stripsEE severally by the links F and F.

D is a clasp attached to the strip A A, and adapted to embrace the strips M M, which are crosses as shown, the clasp D freely sliding upon them. These strips M M are attached at their lower ends by pivotsm m to the strips E E, and at their upper ends by the links L L to the strips K K. D and D are strips pivoted to the clasp D at d and to the strips K K by pivots d d Strips H and It will-be observed by examination of the drawings Fig. 2 that the extremities of the frame opposite the handle are wedge-shaped; that is, the strips K and M, as connected by the links L and D, leave the outer edges of the strips M and K in the form of a wedge, they being a greater distance apart at the link'D than they are at the link L; the same may he said of the strips entering either the legs or arms of a compound garment; and as the slide B is moved on the strip A A, the several parts of the frame commence to expand, and the strips Within the arms of the garment commence to rise, while the increasing steepness of the wedge shape of the outer edges of the strips within the legs and arms of the garment, causing increasing side pressure, have a tendency to prevent the extremities of the garment from slipping toward the body part; and as the parts within the arms continue to rise until a little above the level, they act on the principle of the toggle, just past its center, holding the frame and garment expanded until the slide B is started back upon the strip A A.

To use my device, it is only necessary to insert it in the garment, and then to expand it sufficiently to bring the required tenslon upon the several members of the garment.

When fully expanded, the device appears as shown in Fig. 2.

I claim- In agarment stretching frame, the combination of the central operating strip A A, clasp B sliding freely on said strip, and having attached to it strips B B strips E E (pivoted to the operating strip A A), links F F and strips H H, all acting together as a frame actuating device: with the strips K K, M M, and links L L, slide D, and links D D ,snbstantially as and for the purpose set forth.

'In .testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses, on this llth day of February, A. D. 1893.

ALBERT CLARKE.

Witnesses: M

FRANK G. PARKER, GALEN COFFIN. 

